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Document

Type: Report
Author(s): Arthur R. Pirsko; Leo M. Sergius; Carl W. Hickerson
Publication Date: 1965

A destructive whirlwind of tornadic force was formed in a 600-acre brush fire burning on the lee side of a ridge near Santa Barbara on March 7, 1964. The fire whirlwind, formed in a post-frontal unstable air mass, cut a mile long path, injured 4 people, destroyed 2 houses, a barn, and 4 automobiles, and wrecked a 100-tree avocado orchard.

[This publication is referenced in the "Synthesis of knowledge of extreme fire behavior: volume I for fire managers" (Werth et al 2011).]

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Link to this document
Citation: Pirsko, A.R.; Sergius, L.M.; Hickerson, C.W. 1965. Causes and behavior of a tornadic fire-whirlwind. Research Note PSW-RN-61. Berkeley, CA: USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 13 p.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Climate    Fire Behavior    Fuels    Safety    Social Science    Weather    Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Regions:
Unknown
Keywords:
  • agriculture
  • Artemisia californica
  • brush fires
  • Ceanothus
  • climatology
  • drainage
  • fire
  • fire damage
  • fire weather
  • forest fires
  • fuel moisture
  • population density
  • precipitation
  • Quercus dumosa
  • sloping terrain
  • storms
  • temperature
  • topography
  • tornadoes
  • whirlwind
  • wildfire
  • wind
  • windthrow
Tall Timbers Record Number: 20181 • Location Status: In-file • Abstract Status: Fair use, Okay, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 11867

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.